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United States Court of Military Commission Review
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that rulings from the Guantanamo military commissions could be appealed to a Court of Military Commission Review, which would sit in Washington D.C.. mirror mirror In the event, the Review Court was not ready when it was first needed. Peter Brownback and Keith J. Allred, the officers appointed to serve as Presiding Officers in the Military Commissions that charged Omar Khadr and Salim Ahmed Hamdan dismissed the charges against the two men because the Military Commissions Act only authorized the commissions to try "unlawful enemy combatants". Khadr and Hamdan, like 570 other Guantanamo captives had merely been confirmed to be "enemy combatants". The Court of Military Commission Review ruled that Presiding Officers were, themselves, authorized to rule whether suspects were "illegal enemy combatant". Sitting Judges swears in Paul Holden, Dawn Scholz, Steven Walburn, Amy Bechtold, Steven Thompson, Lisa Schenck, and Eric Geiser.]] The sixteen judges on the panel include: *Frank J. Williams, chief judge *Captain John Rolph, deputy chief judge *Amy Bechtold *Edward G. Beister Jr. *William T. Coleman Jr. *Colonel John Feltham *Captain Eric Geiser *Colonel Paul Holden *Captain Dan O'Toole *Lisa Schenck *Dawn Scholz *Steven Thompson *Steven Walburn *D. Francis Griffin Bell, a former Attorney General resigned from serving as the Chief Judge, for health reasons. United States v. Mohammed Jawad Stephen R. Henley the Presiding Officer in United States v. Mohamed Jawad had ruled that evidence that was the result of torture could not be used. On February 9, 2009, three judges from the Court, Frank J. Williams, Dan O’Toole, and D. Francis were empaneled to consider whether they should comply with the President's Executive Order halting all their proceedings. Suspension On January 22, 2009, United States President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13492 ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, within one year. That order halted all proceedings before the Court of Military Commission Review. Appeal of the verdict of Ali Al Bahlul's military commission Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reported that Ali Al Bahlul's military defense attorneys filed a fifty page appeal of his sentence on free speech grounds on September 2 2009. They claimed his production of al Qaeda propaganda material was protected by the first amendment of the United States Constitution. Three of the Court's judges assembled on January 26, 2010 to hear oral arguments. Salim Hamdan's appeal Attorney's working on behalf of Salim Hamdan have appealed his conviction, and oral arguments were heard on January 26, 2010. Hamdan has already finished serving his sentence. Replacement proposal Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reported that the Obama Presidency has proposed a change in where appeals of the rulings and verdicts of military commissions would be heard. The proposed changes would have them first heard by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which Rosenberg noted was a 58-year-old institution. In the current set-up there is no appeal to rulings of the Court of Military Commission Review. Under the proposed changes appeals could be taken to the United States Supreme Court. References Category:Guantanamo Bay captives legal and administrative procedures Category:United States military courts